


Beyond the Battle at the Binary Stars II

by Persiflage



Series: Kissing Prompts [10]
Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: (But not discussed in detail), Discussion of Imprisonment, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/F, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, Major Character Injury, Michael Burnham is a Badass, Michael Using Her Xenoanthropology Skills, POV Outsider, Serious Injuries, Tenderness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2020-05-12 04:50:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19221931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Persiflage/pseuds/Persiflage
Summary: Canon Divergence to episode 1:02. Philippa Georgiou lives and kisses Michael Burnham. (Part 2)





	Beyond the Battle at the Binary Stars II

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nomisunrider](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nomisunrider/gifts).



> This is a direct sequel to [Beyond the Battle at the Binary Stars I](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19191895) (Unsurprisingly!). 
> 
> It's written for my 25 Kissing Prompts self-challenge, for the prompt: _kissing tears away_.

Admiral Katrina Cornwell watches silently as Michael Burnham and Philippa Georgiou, newly returned from Klingon captivity, kiss each other’s tears away. The fact that the two of them are now a romantic couple is in no way a surprise to her – she’d had an inkling, from things her old friend Pippa had said, that the pair were likely to end up together regardless of what Starfleet might say on the issue. But seeing them kissing each other in front of her is a little surprising. The pair are clinging to each other quite desperately, and she decides that it’s time for someone to intervene.

“Are you two capable of walking to sickbay?” she asks quietly, touching Philippa’s back with one hand, and Michael’s shoulder with the other. 

“I can walk,” Philippa says immediately. “But I don’t think Michael –”

“I can manage, Captain,” Michael says, interrupting in a quiet, yet firm, tone. 

“Please love,” Philippa says, even more quietly, and if Katrina hadn’t been standing right between them, she wouldn’t have heard the endearment at all. 

“It’s all right,” Katrina says, and keeps a firm grip on them both. “Computer, three for site-to-site transport to sickbay.”

She hears Pippa’s gasp of surprise, and tightens her grip on Michael’s shoulder when the young woman sags.

“I’ve got you, Burnham,” she says reassuringly as they rematerialize in sickbay, where Doctors Pollard and Culber immediately rush over to help her get both women onto adjoining biobeds. 

“Burnham has a very bad phaser burn,” Katrina tells Doctor Pollard as she helps the young woman up onto the biobed. “Philippa’s recovering from a near-fatal blow with a Klingon weapon.”

“A mek’leth,” Michael supplies, then hisses when Doctor Pollard begins cutting away her ragged and filthy uniform.

“Computer, privacy protocol,” Katrina calls, effectively cutting off this area of the sickbay from any visitors.

“Are you all right with me examining you, Captain Georgiou?” Doctor Culber asks Pippa.

“Frankly, Doctor, you’re a nicer prospect than my last surgeon, so feel free.” She catches Katrina’s eye, and the Admiral doesn’t know what her expression is doing, but Pippa rolls her eyes. “I’ve been stripped half naked by Klingons – and poked and prodded by them, one Human male is nothing in comparison.”

Katrina nods, then focuses her attention on Michael Burnham again. The young woman is lying on her stomach, her face turned towards her Captain, but the Admiral can see that she is biting hard on her lower lip as Doctor Pollard carefully examines the very bad phaser burn on her lower back, right buttock, and the back of her right leg.

“I got lucky,” she says, catching Katrina’s gaze.

“Lucky?” Katrina repeats doubtfully. 

“If that shot hadn’t been reflected off a wall and a pillar before it hit me, I’d be dead by now.”

Katrina winces. “Yes, I see.” She takes a deep breath in and exhales slowly, and Michael seems to have one eye on her, and the other on Pippa. 

“Can I begin my report, Admiral?” she asks.

Katrina blinks, then glances at Pippa, who nods. “Very well, Commander,” she says.

Michael begins, with occasional pauses for Doctor Pollard to ask her questions about her injury, and Katrina listens intently as the young woman recounts the three and a half months of their imprisonment, and details all that she has learned about the Klingons.

“Why did they speak so freely in front of you?” asks Katrina at one point, when Michael’s describing the Klingons’ plans to attack Corvan II, where a mining colony is providing forty percent of Starfleet’s supply of dilithium. 

“None of them realised that I understood Klingon,” Michael says simply. “I doubt the Klingons would even understand the concept of a Xenoanthropologist.”

Katrina gazes at her for a long moment, then asks gently, “Why did you learn Klingon, Burnham, given that it was Klingons who killed your parents?”

Michael shudders, and Doctor Pollard gives the Admiral a sharp look from where she’s still working on the phaser burns. “It seemed fitting, Admiral, to learn more about the people who hurt me so much.”

Katrina glances at Pippa, who’s been lying silent as Michael talked, and Pippa’s look conveys her own discomfiture. Katrina looks back at Michael, who has closed her eyes.

“The other big thing,” Michael continues, her eyes remaining shut as she speaks, “is that the House of Mo'Kai, in the person of one L’Rell, is working on the choH'a' procedure. It’s a form of species reassignment protocol – they’re going to surgically modify a Klingon to look like the donor Human, whose DNA, memories and consciousness are also harvested and added on top of the Klingon identity. The Klingon identity is nevertheless expected to remain intact, waiting to be reactivated. The method wouldn't be detectable by Starfleet, even with a full set of physical scans, so the modified Klingon could be sent anywhere to gather intelligence on Starfleet.”

She opens her eyes and stares at the Admiral, who feels as if someone’s just yanked the ground from under her feet. “Don’t bring anyone new aboard _Discovery_ , Admiral.” She licks her lips, then adds, “Technically, you should keep the Captain and I under guard hereafter.”

Katrina looks from Michael to Pippa, who nods. “Michael’s right, Kat. You can’t actually prove that we’re not Klingon infiltrators.”

“What about the Manchurian test?” Katrina asks.

Pippa shakes her head slightly. “Wouldn’t work, not on these Klingon infiltrators.”

Doctor Culber, who steps away from Pippa now and gives her a nod to indicate that he’s finished his examination of her almost-healed injuries, looks at Michael, then at Katrina. “Chondroblast-cell scans might work. We’d have to run multiple tests, but they would be more likely to show up the type of surgical work that Commander Burnham is describing.”

“Do so, then,” Katrina says immediately. She shakes her head at the looks being directed at her by Pippa and Michael. “You just escaped Klingon prison, I don’t want to have to keep you locked up here, too.”

“Have any new officers joined the crew of _Discovery_ recently?” Michael asks.

“Only Lieutenant Ash Tyler, two weeks ago. He’d been imprisoned by the Klingons too until he and Captain Lorca escaped together.”

Michael gives her an alarmed look. “You should definitely keep a close eye on him. Planting an altered Klingon in prison would be the perfect way to infiltrate a Starfleet ship.”

Katrina inhales sharply, then nods. “Doctor Culber, would you please call Mr Tyler to sickbay to run the chondroblast-cell scans?”

“Aye, Admiral,” Doctor Culber says.

* * * *

Several hours later, Lieutenant Tyler is under house arrest, guarded by two security officers in his quarters. Michael and Philippa have both been cleared by the tests run by Doctors Culber and Pollard, and after making her report to Starfleet Command, Katrina arrives at the quarters assigned to them.

“I’ve just come to officially confirm that the two of you are on four weeks medical leave as of today, to be extended if necessary after those four weeks. You can stay here, aboard _Discovery_ if you prefer, or you can come back to Earth with me.”

She watches as Michael and Pippa stare at each other, somehow communicating wordlessly, then feels no surprise when they opt to remain right where they are. 

“I’ve notified Ambassador Sarek of your escape,” she tells Michael. “He and your foster mother are en route here even as I speak.”

Michael nods. “Thank you, Admiral.”

“Get some rest, both of you. And thank you both, from Starfleet Command, for the vital intelligence you’ve brought back to us. I am quite certain it will all prove invaluable. And don’t worry about either Corvan II, or Lieutenant Tyler, or whoever he really is. Your only concern for the next four weeks is to rest and recover.”

“Aye, Admiral,” Pippa says, and Katrina feels fairly sure she’ll obey – she’s not sure, despite what Doctor Culber has told her, that even four weeks will be sufficient for Pippa to recover her strength, fitness, and health. At the same time, though, Katrina is sure that Michael Burnham will do everything in her power to assist her Captain.

Her last glimpse of the pair of them as she glances back before leaving their quarters, is of Pippa kissing Michael’s tears from her cheeks.


End file.
